EastEnders fans ‘unmask’ Christmas Day death victim – with shock link to Cindy Beale’s return

WHILE Cindy Beale's return to Walford is the talk of the town, one huge mystery will wreak havoc in the Square in upcoming months.

As EastEnders' Christmas murder mystery is fast approaching, viewers have rumbled who will likely be killed off at the end of the year.

BBC One viewers have been picking out every clue they can since the whodunnit was teased in a grisly flashforward scene in February, 2023.

In this scene, the body of a dead man wearing a suit was left in The Vic, near the pub's Christmas tree.

Six of Albert Square's most beloved ladies will be involved in the chaos but soap fans have been desperate to find out who the unknown victim could be.

George Knight, Ravi Gulati, Nish Panesar, Ryan Malloy and even Dean Wicks have all been tipped by fans to be killed off in December.

But with Cindy Beale's explosive return to Walford, many viewers are growing increasingly convinced her husband Ian (Adam Woodyatt) will die in a major twist after his own comeback.

According to them, this could all be linked to a revenge plot for Lucy Beale's death.

The young woman's murder has briefly been revisited as Cindy paid a visit to her grave upon her return on Monday (August 28, 2023).

"Cindy is with Ian for revenge for Lucy, I’m calling it now…no sane woman would be with the father of her child’s murderer", one soap viewer commented on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Another agreed: "OMG Cindy, imagine finding out your eldest Daughter's just been killed from your witness protection handler, thinking it was all her fault. Does she know it was actually Bobby & does she know the massive part Ian [played] in the cover up? Her body being moved? Max etc?"

"There’s a lot of men in EE that I wish will be the one killed at Christmas but Ian has managed to jump straight to the top of that list", another fan chimed in.

EastEnders viewers will remember that Lucy Beale was bludgeoned to death in April, 2014, by her eleven-year-old half-brother Bobby Beale during a row.

The young boy took a music box and hit her over the head, killing her instantly, before his adoptive mother Jane Beale got involved.

Determined to protect the child from any repercussions, she moved Lucy's body to Walford Common, before convincing Bobby he had never killed his sister.

Bobby's involvement in Lucy's death was eventually exposed as part of the show's 30th anniversary in 2015, despite Jane's attempts at covering for him and Ian agreed to keep it a secret for several months.

But when Bobby's violent behaviour spun out of control and he nearly claimed Jane's life in a fit of rage in May, 2016, the lad confessed and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Meanwhile, Cindy - who was reportedly dead herself - was living in Marbella when DCI Mary Nicholls broke the news of Lucy's death to her.

At the time, she had no idea Lucy had been killed by Bobby and believed that her involvement with Jackie Ford may have led to her daughter's demise.

After walking out on her new family with George Knight, she managed to reconnect with Ian Beale and the pair settled in Jouars, France - despite her attempt to have him killed in the 1990's.

Cindy's villainous nature seems to have quietened down but could she be cooking up a deadly scheme against Ian after finding out how far he went to protect Lucy's killer?

Will she try and finish off what she started nearly two decades ago?

The possibility is there but Cindy isn't the only one who could be lashing out against Ian.

Last night's instalment of the London-based drama (Wednesday, August 30, 2023) showed Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell) worrying about Anna Knight's opinion of him after finding out he killed Lucy.

According to one social media user, he could eventually be led to act out again and let his murderous streak take over.

"The episode has me thinking will Bobby Beale strike again with either killing Ian Beale, Peter Beale or Freddie Slater?", they penned.

Freddie Slater (Bobby Brazier) may be on Bobby's radar after sleeping with Anna Knight in the fallout of Cindy and Ian's return to the Square.

But could another downward spiral push Bobby to turn against Ian?

Ian is one of the longest-standing Albert Square residents and has been the target of multiple murder attempts throughout the decades.

Could there ever be a successful one?

EastEnders airs from Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One.